1. What, to your mind, is the most pressing challenge facing the global environment? Why?

The most pressing issue is income disparity. There are many different levels through which one can view environmental issues—international, national, and local, for instance—all of which have problems that connect to income disparity. While I am tempted to use the term "resource," I feel that it is too vague, covering both tangible and intangible things. To keep this post focused, I chose income because, let's face it, that's how the big guys measure it. Sure, it's easy for people at the World Bank making comfy salaries to dictate that, but seeing as I am writing this on my laptop in an air-conditioned apartment, I feel it is fitting.

Despite noteworthy concessions made for the betterment of the planet, most international environmental cooperation has been hindered by the income gap. There are agreements among certain groups, like how in Johannesburg 2002 groups of countries found common ground in negotiations, however once these groups confronted each other, the previously found common ground (most of it based on income) almost didn't matter. Binding agreements are thus a rarity, and international cooperation has become almost hopeless. The most recurrent theme in international environmental politics is the hypocrisy of developed nations telling less wealthy nations to do what they didn't. The big polluters need to reduce consumption/waste, and the little guys (or up-and-coming guys) need to get rich/developed without destroying the environment. But with the income gap so big, and with power coming hand in hand with income, we can usually anticipate which gets the priority.

Just as income disparity is a cause of global environmental problems, it is just as much an effect. As the world continues to heat up, sea levels continue to rise, growing seasons get shorter, and dangerous weather/natural disasters become more of a threat, it is the poor people of this world that are affected the most. For instance, if we compare the recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, the latter was much stronger (4th strongest in recorded history). However, Chile is the second most affluent country in Latin America, whereas Haiti is the poorest. For that reason, what might be considered similar disasters have a considerably greater effect on poorer populations, thus amplifying the income gap on the global scale.

Income disparity correlates with the consumption and waste of a people. There are statistics out there that say that the average US citizen consumes X times as much as the average African. There is no doubt as to the negative effect consumption has on the environment (global warming, waste disposal, energy extraction, pollution, etc). Then how can it be that the people who contribute the least to Earth's environmental problems are the ones who suffer the most? And there in lies the beauty: Money=Power; power controls politics.